Friday, October 13, 2017

Review: Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer

About the book:

Decades of loss, an unsolved mystery, and a rift spanning three generations

Hazel DeFord is a woman haunted by her past. While berry picking in a blackberry thicket in 1943, ten-year old Hazel momentarily turns her back on her three-year old sister Maggie and the young girl disappears.

Almost seventy years later, the mystery remains unsolved and the secret guilt Hazel carries has alienated her from her daughter Diane, who can't understand her mother's overprotectiveness and near paranoia. While Diane resents her mother's inexplicable eccentricities, her daughter Meghan-a cold case agent-cherishes her grandmother's lavish attention and affection.

When a traffic accident forces Meghan to take a six-week leave-of-absence to recover, all three generations of DeFord women find themselves unexpectedly under the same roof. Meghan knows she will have to act as a mediator between the two headstrong and contentious women. But when they uncover Hazel's painful secret, will Meghan also be able to use her investigative prowess to solve the family mystery and help both women recover all that's been lost?

Bringing Maggie Home
was a heart wrenching read that shows how one horrid act can devastate a family
and generations later. Starting off with every parent’s worst nightmare ten
year old Hazel and her 3 year old sister go out blackberry picking. An innocent
enough afternoon turns into a nightmare when little Maggie goes missing. For
seventy years Hazel has not spoken of her sister.

There was so much emotion in this story. We have three
generations of women: Hazel, now turning
80, her daughter Diane, and granddaughter Meghan. All three of these women are strong and
stubborn and hold on to certain skewed viewpoints from their childhoods. Diane
felt her mother Hazel was too overprotective where Meghan felt that her mother,
Diane, did not love her enough nor was as affectionate like her grandmother.
Hazel just wanted to protect Diane and not lose her as her sister was lost. And
Diane wanted Meghan to stand on her own and not be smothered as she felt she
was.

Even though this story touched on a very sad and scary
topic, devastating people’s lives, I cannot express enough how much this story
affected me to love a little more and let go of things that do not matter. Hug
my family a little tighter and thank God for them every day, many times a day. More
than anything this book just showed me how all our perceptions right or wrong can
affect those we love the most. That forgiveness is best and guilt and shame can
ruin and cause death.

In regards to Maggie’s disappearance, Meghan just happens to
be a cold case detective so this book takes us on the trail with Meghan and her
partner Sean as they pick up this cold case and search for what really happened
that day and where did Maggie go. I needed to know along with the characters. All
in all this was a satisfying read.

I received a copy of this novel for free. I was not required
to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the author:

Kim Vogel Sawyer is a highly acclaimed, best-selling author with more than one million books in print, in several different languages. Her titles have earned numerous accolades including the ACFW Carol Award, the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Kim lives in central Kansas with her retired military husband Don, where she continues to write gentle stories of hope and redemption. She enjoys spending time with her three daughters and grandchildren.